Hamertong
by Sun Crusher
Summary: I'm no good at summaries, but the story's pretty good. Is NOT related to Timothy Zanh's HAMMERTONG, hence the different spelling.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is my first FanFic of any kind so don't be too brutal when reviewing. The summary kind of sucks, but the story itself is good. It's rated R for a few incidents of course language. Have fun :) I don't own any Star Wars characters that were made before; Shada D'ukal and Mara Jade. The rest I made up.

"Damn, I really hate the jungle." She snarled as she pushed aside more branches and walked into another pool of mud.

"You've already said that, Shada." Sky replied. Admittedly he didn't like being on this trip either, but since the Eleven had sent them, they had to be here. Shada hadn't seemed to mad about it. Of course they hadn't known then that they'd be walking into a jungle. When he though about it, though, Sky wasn't that upset about being here. It was sort of peaceful. What bothered him the most was how although he was just under ten years older than her, he was always paired up with his sixteen-year-old sister and she always led the entire trip. He knew that although they argued and fought occasionally, they also worked very well together. He had to admit Shada was good. She'd always win every fight with him either through brute force or cruel logic. According to their father it was the same way their mother won arguments. Shada was also an almost perfect copy of their mother, except for her eyes. Her eyes were the same color as their father's, ice blue. But that was the only resemblance. Shada had also begun to slowly go goth over the past ten years. She now wore completely black clothes and her room was . . . well it was her room. You had to say that. It was also completely black. But it wasn't the way she dressed or the resemblance to their mother that caught people's . . . what attention? . . . no, it was more like unnerving people than catching anything; it was her eyes. Ice blue, yes, but with no sign of emotion ever. Boy how true that was. The only emotion Sky had ever seen her have since she was born was hate and anger and occasionally, complete and utter disgust. Her eyes were always cold and when you spoke to her, if she didn't give you a sarcastic, unfeeling reply, she raised an eyebrow that same disgust in her eyes.

Sky was jarred out of his musing with his sister's curse. "_Shassa!_"

He saw he had almost run into her. "What's the matter now, Sha?"

"Damn it." Shada D'ukal snarled. "You'd think they'd at least let us in on some of the terrain." She looked up at her older brother. He had the same green eyes as their mother and now, that made her mood, which had already been bad, worse. It wouldn't have, normally, if the woman hadn't tried to kill her, but she had, and as good a fighter Shada was, she almost hadn't made it out alive, but then again, neither had her mother.

"Wow, that's a long, long drop." Sky said as he peered around her. He was unaware of his sister glaring moodily into his eyes.

She turned away from him. "How do we get down? According to the map the Eleven gave us, we go down." Sky didn't answer her, just looked around and that pissed her off even more.

She was about to yell at him, when he walked away, coming back with two boards that resembled wheel-less skateboards . . . almost. "Here." He handed her one. "Follow me."

"Sky." She warned. "If —."

"Relax." He cut her off, ignoring her glare. "This will work." _I hope._ He thought. He stepped on the edge of the cliff, the board beneath his feet, looking like it would break, and rearranged his navy blue bag. "Wait 'til I tell you to go." He pushed off. Shada sighed and shifted her black bag as she watched Sky slide down the cliff face. _Damn him if he thinks I'm gonna wait. _She thought, but as she watched him, she decided she'd rather wait. He was kicking up dust and rocks behind him, not to mention waking every type of bug that could possibly live in the moss on the cliff. _Yuck_. She thought. _How disgusting._ She would have to go down like that too and she would no doubt kick up the same stuff. Unless that should happen. That would be an issue. Plus, if he died on the way down, she would just find another, better way down. Surprisingly, he reached the bottom without a problem. He looked up and waved her down. She followed thinking _I must be crazy._ But just like Sky, Shada made it down safely. "Come on, let's go." He said. They continued following the map.

"I hate the jungle." Shada snarled again. This time Sky ignored her. Why in hell did she have to end up on the jungle anyway? If the Eleven hadn't sent Sidney Bristol, Scott Mason, and Veronica Marks off on that stupid mission, she and Sky wouldn't be here trekking through the jungle that never seemed to end with mud on their clothes and scratches from twigs and thorns. It was like being on a jungle world only when they had been in orbit, the whole thing sure as hell didn't look all jungle. They might not have even been here if Sky hadn't volunteered. The only reason he'd volunteered anyway had been because Sidney was his _current_ girlfriend.

As if he could read the track her thoughts had taken, Sky said. "It's your own fault, you know. If you didn't ignore every guy that tried to even hit on you much less ask you out, you'd have a boyfriend." She ignored him and growled under her breath. She thought about hitting him, but decided not to. It would get her no where.

An hour later, Shada and Sky set up camp. "So who gets first watch?" Sky asked as he set up the tent. The tent she had made him carry, along with anything else that wasn't food or necessary for basic survival in the wilderness and except for some choice things. Well, except for the power packs. They'd split all of those. After all, two blasters, two gunners, split the power packs, right?

"I say you do, you're older."

"So we flip."

"Flip!" She raised her eyebrow in disbelief. "Flip what a rock! Smooth side gets watch? You're a real genius, you know."

He grinned at her. "Rock, paper, scissors?"

"Fine." Five minutes later, she was propped against a tree, seething as Sky got ready to sleep for half the night. He turned the light out and that's when she heard it, a low growl, not that close, but not that far either. It was the growl of something hunting. Something big. She listened for a few minutes longer, then let her thoughts wander back to why the fucking Eleven had sent them here. Not to mention what had they sent the others for here as well. She was running in circles when she heard it again. She glanced at Sky's tent, then at her chrono. It was only an hour later and the thing was closer. Of course, if it got too close and Sky wasn't up, she'd just kill it herself. Hell, if it breathed, it bled, it died, right? She snorted. Sky would yell at her for even considering the idea. _But then again, that makes it a whole lot more fun._ She thought.

Around midnight, Sky got up. He saw that Shada was too alert for watch. "What's up?" He whispered. She didn't answer right away, but listened with her head cocked to the side. She resembled a dog listening to a dog whistle.

"Something's out there." She said. "It's hunting and getting closer." Sure enough, he heard a low growl and Shada was right, it sounded pretty close.

"Why in hell didn't you wake me up?" He demanded. Stupid question, she probably planned to kill the thing herself.

"I decide to see whether I could kill it. If I couldn't, I'd wake you up." She replied.

"If Dad were her," Sky warned. "He would —."

"Dad's not here so don't give me those threats." She got up and headed towards the tent. "Your turn to take watch." She reached the tent and started to go in then stopped. "Oh and it's been growling and getting closer about every hour at least until you showed." She vanished into the tent and Sky sat down where she had been just a few minutes ago.

An hour later just like she had said, it growled and it was closer too. Too close for Sky's preference. He should really let Shada sleep though. _Well I'll let her sleep until it got closer._ He thought. But it never came closer. It continued its growling every hour, but that was it. Sky was certain that it was also watching, not him, but Shada, even though she was now in the tent.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Glad you liked the first chapter. If anyone has a better idea for a title, I'll willingly take suggestions. Remember, I don't own any Star Wars characters other than the ones I made up. Enjoy the next chapter.

The next morning, Shada was eager to get going. To Sky it looked like she hadn't slept well, but that didn't mean much. "Hey you ready yet?" She asked him.

"Just a minute." He replied. "You're not the one carrying everything."

"If you weren't such a pushover, you wouldn't be carrying everything, now would you?"

"'Kay, lets go." Sky put the bag on his shoulders and glanced into the jungle. There was no one or anything there. Yet he still had the distinct feeling Shada was being watched. Shada didn't seem to notice though.

It had just turned noon when Shada abruptly stopped. "What's wrong?" Sky asked.

"Shhhhh." She held up a hand. "Three heading towards us at . . . run."

"Three what?" She never got the chance to answer. Out of the jungle came three people, two females and a male. They looked terrified and like they'd been running for days.

"Shada!" The youngest, a female said. She had blond hair and her eyes were as blue as Shada's, though hers had plenty of emotion in them.

"Veronica!" Sky said. "Hey, Scott, Sidney, are you guys all right?"

"What happened to you?" Shada asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Well, the Eleven sent us here to get the data for the Hammertong and we got it, but we ran into a . . . a thing. It was huge." Scott, the oldest, told them. He had short, spiky black hair and usually warm brown eyes. "It chased us and we lost the data; we barely got out alive."

"It's been chasing us since we got out of the fortress." Sidney said. She had short brown hair and hazel eyes. To Sky she was the most beautiful thing on any planet. She had buried herself into Sky's arms. _Disgusting_. Shada thought.

Veronica looked up at Shada. "I don't think it followed us last night, though." Veronica was looking at Shada for approval for keeping an eye out even though they had been chased. Shada nodded at her. It was clear from the way she looked up at Shada that she looked up to the older girl. Three years apart, Veronica was striving to be just like Shada, but try as she might she could never match the older girl's eyes. _Damn, they keep getting younger. Pretty soon they're all gonna die if the Eleven send them on missions like this all the time._ Sky thought.

"We should get back to your ship." Sidney said. She looked up at Sky for support.

Sky nodded. "Sid's right. We should go, come on."

"No." Shada objected. "Even if the thing followed them, we should get the data before we go back."

"Shada, if that thing is guarding the data, we'll never be able to get it." Sky countered. "Besides I have a feeling that that thing we heard last night might be the same thing chasing Sid and the others."

"We weren't sent here to _just_ rescue them." Shada said, talking like the others weren't even there. "The Eleven sent us here to just get the plans if we have to, even if it means leaving them behind or dead."

"For Christ's sake, Shada, would you please listen to me?" Sky pleaded. _This is why I carry everything._

"The Gates of Hell, I will!" Now, her ice blue eyes were blazing with fury. "We were sent here for one reason and if you don't want to come, fine, but I'm going to go back there and get that data. Don't bother taking the _Crusher_ because I have its beacon." She smirked. It was the nastiest one Sky had ever seen.

"Shada ──."

"If anyone else wants to come, I leave now." With that she stormed off back the way the others had come. Veronica looked helplessly at Sky and followed her.

"Damn it, she's gonna get us all killed. I can't leave without her." Sky snarled. "And unfortunately for me she knows it. Come on." He followed the two girls.

"But Sky, that thing . . ." Sidney objected.

"She's my little sister Sid." Sky shot back. Sidney sighed and followed. Scott was looking lost and decided to follow them, feeling like he had just been completely ignored, which was true. He had been. _See what happens when you let women get control, Scotty boy. _He thought. Of course, if he had been asked, he would have gone with Shada anyway.

They reached the fortress just as dark was falling. It looked more like a castle than a fortress except that this was made out of durasteel instead of stone.

"Wow," Sky said. "That is one huge fortress. You could get lost in there."

"I won't get lost." Shada told him. "We're sleeping out here tonight." She hadn't yelled at them when Sky, Scott, and Sidney had joined her in the jungle.

Sky was surprised that the trek to the fortress had only taken about half the day. It had seemed longer because the others had taken several days to find. Sky also had no clue the thing would be that big either.

"Why are we sleeping out here?" Scott asked. Shada thought he looked a little worried.

"Because if that thing is inside, we're safe outside." She replied. "If it's outside, well that's why we keep watch."

"Oh." Scott said. He started helping the others set up camp.

Sky was about to approach her, but she suddenly turned to him. "Keep an eye out here, will ya?"

"Yeah, sure." He replied as she began to walk away. "Why, where are you going?"

"I'm gonna make sure that thing isn't too close right now. If you want to decide who's got first watch, I'll go first if no one wants." She stopped at the edge of the camp. "You know that thing's been following us all day, right?" With that she walked off into the jungle.

"Yeah, I knew." He said to the trees. _But I wondered whether you knew, Sha._ He headed back to the camp. "How are we gonna set up watch?"

"I say Shada goes first." Scott volunteered Sky's little sister as soon as Sky finished speaking. "She's the most alert and best trained of all of us."

"True, Shada's got first, I'll go second, Sid, you're third, Scott fourth, and Veronica, you're last, any complaints?" Sky looked around at them. "Good, I'll let Sha know when she gets back."

"Hey, where did she go anyway?" Sidney asked.

"She went to make sure our friend isn't too close."

"And it's not." Shada said from behind him. "I got first?"

"Yeah." Sky replied.

"Well, just so you know, we have to all be alert on our shifts. That thing has been following all of us since we joined up. Don't let it get too close before getting me. If you feel it's to close wake me, then Sky. Understand?"

She got a bunch of nods. "You sure you want first, Sha?" Sky asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. If it gets too close on my shift, I'll try taking it out." She smirked at him. "Besides you always seem to know when I need a hand so if I need help, you'll show." She settled down against a tree to keep watch as the others finished setting up the camp and dark fell.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I chose to spell Hamertong with one "m" to keep my title different from the title of Timothy Zahn's story. I realize that I don't own any characters or ideas of any Star Wars book or movies and I've never even heard of Alias much less seen it. As for the commas that's my writing stlye and as far as I'm concerned, if you don't like it, don't read it. I also chose to make Shada a complaining teenager and give her a sibling. It's called alternate reality. I'll admit that calling my story "good" may be a bit overconfident, but that's just my personality. For those of you who actually like what I have done, enjoy the next chapter.

The next day, Shada was up before dawn. She was restless and she didn't like the fact that that thing, whatever it was, was still out there, still watching, not the others, but her. Why it was watching only her, she didn't know. She wasn't that worried about it, though, if she really wanted she could just kill it.

"Don't even think about it, Sha." Sky said from behind her. She had heard him come up behind her and wasn't surprised, but his voice was still enough to jar her thoughts back to the reality of the damn empty jungle around her.

She snickered at him. "I've already been there." Her voice although she kept it soft, was loud in the early morning quiet.

"You know what I meant. What're you doing up this early anyway?"

"I woke up and sensed that thing was near, couldn't get back to sleep, so got up." She sighed. "We should be going, anyway."

"Yeah, I'll go get the others, 'kay?" She nodded and followed Sky back to the camp. She grabbed her bag and felt her only real possession from her mother, a lightsaber. It was her mother's yes, it was also the only thing she'd ever gotten from the women, Sky and her father had gotten everything else. When lit, the blade was blood-red. And although the very thought of her mother pissed her off, she still kept the lightsaber. _Maybe that's why I keep it. To make sure I can still feel _some_ emotion._ She thought. She took the lightsaber out of her bag and put it on her belt so if they needed it, she would have it. She waited for the others and after they were sure nothing was left, headed into the fortress.

The fortress, amazingly, wasn't all that big on the inside as it seemed on the outside. The halls were narrow with various other passages seemingly randomly placed down the hallway. There were a few lights scattered around occasionally, but they gave off little light. And it wasn't the light, or lack there of, that put Shada on edge, it was the fact that the entire place seemed _deserted_.

"Stick close and keep quiet unless you have to talk." Shada whispered. "If we do get split up, keep comm silence. And follow me. Understood?" She got nods in return. They headed down the hallway, quickly losing what light the doors offered and only getting light from the lamps when they were beneath them. Veronica was amazed at how Shada could follow the map, the hallway, and not run into walls around the turns in the dark. _One day I'm gonna be just like Shada._ Veronica thought.

The halls were long and dark and Sidney found herself clinging to Sky, even though she had been trained otherwise. She was terrified of the thing that had chased them, though. She

knew that although Shada never told any of them, the thing had been watching them all night since they had all met up.

"Help! Help me, please." Said a man. He had short brown hair, blue eyes, and looked like a terrified dork. He kept looking over his shoulder even as he ran into Shada.

"Who the hell are you!" Shada snarled.

"Huh, I-I-I-I-I'm Mike Linehan." He finally got out.

"What are you running from?" Sky asked, helping him up off the floor.

"You don-don-don-don't know?" Mike asked, incredulous.

"Obviously not or he wouldn't have asked." Shada growled. "And do you have to stutter like that? What are you, retarded?"

"It's ──." Mike never got the chance to finish. Out from a side corridor and into the one Shada was watching, came a huge . . . a huge what? Shada didn't know what to call it or how to describe it. It sort of looked like a cross between a rancor and a wampa only without the fur. Shada saw it in the dark of the hallway and slid her hand down to the custom-built blaster. _Is this the thing that was watching me and following us?_ She thought. All of a sudden, it roared, not the little growls from the nights, but an all out roar. _Definitely our friend._ She drew the blaster as the thing began to advance toward them.

"Everyone move!" Shada ordered. They all had drawn blasters and were getting out of the thing's way. Well everyone except Mike. Mike had collapsed and was crying like a baby. The thing walked up to Mike and picked him up off the ground. Shada fired a couple of shots into it, but they didn't do anything. The thing looked at her then back at Mike and bit his head cleanly off his shoulders, spraying blood everywhere.

"_Shassa_." Shada cursed softly. Since blasters weren't gonna work and it was way too big for her knives, she didn't have any weapons to kill it with other than her hands and that meant she'd die if she tried that. She got up and felt something bounce against her leg. She looked down and saw what it was, her lightsaber. She'd have to get just as close as she would if she used her hands, but this might work especially if she got what she wanted to happen while it was still eating Mike.

"Hey, Sky, will you take the others farther down the hall?" She asked. If he obeyed, then she wouldn't have to worry about the others getting hurt. Well, who in hell cared if they got hurt? It was more that they would be out of the way.

Sky looked at her and must have seen something either on her face or in her eyes because he didn't argue. "Yeah, all right. But, Shada, be careful, please?"

She gave him a sincere smile and nodded. Then she turned back to the thing. It had just finished eating Mike. _I better be real lucky today._ She thought as she drew her lightsaber. The hilt was cool in her hand. The blood-red blade threw eerie shadows all over the place. To Sky the blade made Shada look like Satin's daughter the way it threw red highlights into her hair and clothes.

Shada took a deep breath, battling her way through her anger and hatred to her center, the place where she went when she wanted to be alone with other people around, where no one could get her, and where she hid all her fears. She reached her center, felt the all to familiar calm come over her and she attacked. Only she did it a way she'd never done before.

The thing turned toward her, the closest figure, but Shada didn't see it, she _felt_ it. It was almost like she could read the thing's mind. It swiped at her with its huge claw and she jumped over it, cutting it off in the process. She felt a dull flash of pain as something cut deep into her right arm as she dropped into a roll. She came up, slicing off half of the other claw as it headed for her head. _This is awesome! I've never been able to feel what my opponent is _going_ to do before._ She could smell burning flesh as the thing roared angrily at her, but she barely registered any of this, she was too into the fight. It had never felt this kind of pain before. _I'll be the one to show it, then._ She thought. She looked down at her right arm and saw that she had somehow gotten a huge gash down the length of her forearm and it was bleeding pretty badly. _Sky won't like that._

The thing growled again and without claws it tried to step on her, but she rolled out of the way and threw the lightsaber at it. She could have sworn that she'd miss when the thing moved its head, but as she watched, the blade turned and sliced the thing's head off, right where she wanted it too, as cleanly as it had bitten Mike's off. The blade suddenly turned toward her and she held out her hand to catch it. That went against all if her training, but she did it anyway. She caught it, turned it off, and turned to smile nastily at Sky, thinking _Did I just call my lightsaber to me?_

"Way to go, Shada!" Scott cried as he pulled her into a hug. Sky walked up to her and instead of hugging her just smiled and looked at her right arm.

"That looks really bad, Sha." He said as he began to patch it up.

"It'll heal."

"Lucky for you, it's only the length of your forearm." Sky gave the bandage a hard tug.

"Ow!" She glared at him. "What the hell was that for?"

"Arguing with me about going to the _Crusher_ or not." He said as he finished with her arm. "Come on."

"How'd you fight like that, Shada?" Veronica asked, her face was filled with admiration for Shada. "How'd you kill that thing?"

"Don't know. Once I was attacked by that thing ──."

"It's a tyrannosaurus rex, Sha." Sky interrupted her.

"Whatever." She turned back to Veronica. "Anyway, once it attacked I was able to . . . _feel_ what the t-rex was gonna do and as for killing it, well through the entire fight, I relied on . . . instinct and the same . . . instinct that let me . . . _feel_ what it was going to do, let me kill it." She shrugged. "That was a t-rex?" She asked, turning back to Sky. "That looked like a cross between a rancor and a wampa."

He sighed. "That's because you've never seen one before."

"That's 'cause they don't exactly populate Emberlene." She shot back.

"See what happens when you don't spend every waking moment training."

She growled. "I don't spend every moment training!"

"No, you break for food, dad, the Eleven, and missions."

"I take a break when I need to, ya know."

"Which is how often? Once every two hours?"

"That's 'cause I don't need breaks."

"See my point?" Sky asked she ignored him, letting Sky know he'd hit home.

They reached a large room. It was well lit and was empty except for a pedestal in the middle of the room. And on the pedestal was a small, black, flat rectangle.

"It's on a datacard!" Shada said, her eyebrows going up. "Why not put it in something more secure?"

"That's what Veronica said, too" Scott said from behind Shada. His voice was soft and Shada didn't seem to hear him.

"Did any of you take a look at it?" She asked suddenly rounding on Scott.

"What! No! That goes against all the rules." He replied, startled.

"Hell with the rules. I've already broken half of them anyway." She reached into her bag and pulled out a black datapad. She went over to the pedestal and took something out of her pocket. It was a small, black cylinder, but Veronica didn't know what it was. She also didn't ask because she was afraid Shada would yell at her and tell her she was stupid because she didn't know what it was. Shada held it up to the area of the datacard and pushed a button. There was a white flash and then a rectangle of light red laser beams appeared around the datacard.

"Did you guys just go and grab the card?" Shada asked.

"Well, yeah." Scott replied.

"It's not like we have a . . . whatever that is." Sidney told her.

"That's why you had that t-rex chase you . . . probably." Shada replied. "And it's a Charric Cylinder. It emits a colorless, odorless, and harmless gas that reveals any laser rays that'll trigger an alarm." She slowly reached her hand through the lasers, making sure not to brush them with her arm. She reached the datacard and picked it up and the lasers began to flicker. "_Shassa_." She took the Charric Cylinder from her pocket with her right hand and gave the button a push again. There was the same white flash and the lasers reappeared and Shada slowly drew her hand back.

"Gotcha!" She said and slid the datacard into the datapad she had at some point dropped on the floor. _She probably did it when the lasers flickered._ Sidney thought.

The screen on the datapad came to life as Shada turned it on. But the screen didn't give her data for the Hammertong, it gave her data for a ship; it was also called _Sun Crusher_ like her ship and as she scrolled through, she also found data for other ships as well. It was more of schematics than data though. As she looked them over, she found a Z-95 Headhunter, and an A-Wing, and an exact picture of _her_ blaster.

"Geeze, this is all cool stuff." Sky said from over her shoulder.

"Sky, did you see that last one?" She looked up at her older brother. "It's an _exact _picture of _my_ blaster."

"Yeah, I saw." _And it bothers the hell out of me too, Sha._ Sky thought.

"Hey, if that doesn't have the correct data on it, how're we gonna find the real data?" Sidney asked.

"We're gonna look for it, right Shada?" Veronica said, looking up at the older girl.

She smirked at her. "You got it. We go look for it." She looked around at them. "Any objections?" She got none and they headed off into the fortress.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Sky said as they headed deeper into the fortress. They'd been going for an hour, Shada briefly looking in the other rooms they passed, and they still hadn't found any other types of data holders.

As they kept going, the fortress kept getting darker with less and less lights. It was dark enough that Shada had to pull her own flashlight out of her bag and was moving more cautiously than an hour ago. She also had her blaster drawn all the time. They continued on and turned the corner into a long completely dark hallway. By the light of Shada and Sky's flashlights, the group could see down about halfway by Shada's judgement. Down that halfway there wasn't a single turn or side passageway. _Good, that means no place to ambush._ Shada thought. She glanced at Sky and could tell he was thinking the same thing. She moved forward and headed deeper into the hallway, the others following behind her.

As they reached the halfway mark that Shada had mentally made, Shada could see that the rest of the hallway was the same, clean of turns and side passageways and that the hallway led to what looked like a room. _This could be a trap._ Shada thought, but she kept moving forward. They reached the room, which was as dark as the hallway and Shada entered fist, bringing her blaster, in her right hand, up and held beneath the flashlight so she wouldn't have to waste time bringing it to bear on any enemies as she ran the flashlight around the room. There was no one there. In fact it was exactly like the room she'd gotten the datacard that was now in her backpack along with her datapad. The only difference lay in what was on the pedestal in the middle of the room.

Sky had been running his hand along the wall while Shada checked it out and finally found what he was looking for, the light switch. He flipped it and had to blink a few times to clear the spots out of his eyes as the lights came on all at once. Shada didn't seem to have a problem, though. He saw that Shada was approaching the pedestal in the middle.

"Shada wait, don't you ──." He started.

"What? Think this was way too easy?" She looked back at him. "Yeah, it was way too easy. Make you feel better?" She turned back to the pedestal. "But, I'd rather spring the trap than wait for someone to come and get us." She snickered. "Unless you've got any better plans." Sky knew that if she turned back her eyebrow would be raised in a challenge.

"Well, I agree in springing the trap, but you're not going to do it."

She whirled back to face him. "Why not?" She demanded.

"Because you're the best fighter we have. If we run into trouble, I want you to have your hands free, got it?"

She sighed. "Fine, but you listen to me the rest of the way."

"Unless my idea is better then yours." He walked up to the pedestal and before she could object said "Come on, we don't need to set off any alarms." She growled, but said nothing as she pulled the Charric Cylinder out of her pocket and slid the blaster partway into the same pocket at the same time.

"Hey, Shada, what is that?" Veronica asked, tentatively pointing at the thing on the pedestal.

"That's a good question, Sha." Sky said as Shada pushed the button on the Charric Cylinder. In a rectangle, a more tightly packed group of lasers appeared.

"It's a holocron." Shada said as Sky hissed though his teeth. "That looks nasty, Sky." He nodded. "It holds data like a datacard, but it's more secure. I think there's only one way to open it."

"How do you open it?" Sidney asked.

"There's a trigger on the side, you push it in and it opens. If there's another way, I don't know it."

"Got it." Sky said and his hand closed around the holocron as the lasers vanished again. But Shada was on top of it and gave the Charric Cylinder another push and the lasers reappeared. Sky pulled out the holocron. It was a red and black triangle. "So you push this?" Sky asked, showing Shada a small button like thing on the side. She nodded and Sky pushed it. Nothing happened.

"Why didn't it open?" Scott asked. Shada shrugged and took it. She pushed the same trigger Sky had pushed only this time it opened, revealing a holo of a long superlaser.

"How'd you open that?" Sky demanded. "Why didn't it open when I pushed it? We are family, if you can open it, I should be able to open it too."

"I don't know." Shada replied. She scrolled down the holocron and saw that the superlaser wasn't just long it was huge and beneath the holo was the word _Hammertong_. Sky took it from her and as soon as it left her hands, the holocron closed up again. Sky gave her an odd look. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just odd that you can only open this . . . it reminds me a lot of what mom can do."

She glared laser bolts at him. "Lets get out of here." She growled. "Besides this was way too easy in the first place. If it was a trap, it's sprung and we leave now!" She took the holocron and put it in her bag. She also switched the Charric Cylinder with her blaster. She headed for the doorway and when she got there, stopped. "_Shassa_." She cocked her head. "We need to go _now_!" She led the group to the beginning of the long, dark, passageless hallway at a half-walk, half-run.

They rounded the corner and Shada abruptly stopped, causing Sky to walk right into her. And standing in front to her was another t-rex. This one was bigger than the one Shada had killed before; it was no doubt the other one's parent. The only problem was that Sky didn't know which one; he didn't know how to tell the difference between genders.

"There's another one?" Veronica said, her eyes were wide with fear and she was now clinging to Scott. Sidney had likewise clung to Sky.

"Back up. If I can kill one," Shada looked back at them, or more precisely at Sky.

"I can kill another one." Sky gazed into her ice blue eyes. _She means to do this. If I argue with her, she's just gonna do it anyway. _He thought. He nodded at her and she gave him a soft smile of thanks. _Oddly enough I've never heard her actually say thanks._ Sky thought.

"Come on, back into the hall." Sky said as they went back down leaving Shada to face the t-rex. She took her lightsaber off of her belt and ignited it. The blood-red blade came to life with a _snap-hiss_ spilling the same eerie highlights around as before only now they were more brilliant because of the lack of light in the hallway.

Shada took a deep breath, dropping once again into her center, but this time she didn't wait for it to attack, she attacked first. And just like last time, she could _feel_ what the t-rex was going to do. And that same power told her how to avoid it and where to strike. She listened and once again she threw the lightsaber. It cut off the t-rex's head and came back to her. She caught it. _Damn, I really am calling it to me. But how? _She thought.

"Look at that, Sha, you didn't get hurt this time." Sky said, walking up to her.

"Yeah, all that training I do is paying off, huh?" She smirked nastily at him.

"I never said it didn't pay off." Sky told her. "I was just pointing out that you'd have known what a t-rex was if you read instead of spending all your time training."

"Come in let's get back to the _Sun Crusher._" Shada growled. She headed off to the exit of the fortress. "We have to get back up to the ground level before we set up camp. Though I'd prefer outside the fortress."


	4. Chapter 4

Two and a half hours later, they reached the exit. "We set up camp outside." Shada said and led them outside. They began to set up camp where they had before they entered the fortress. "I'm gonna make sure nothing's gonna eat us while we break. No watch, just everyone can't go into a heavy sleep. Understood?"

"Yep." Sky said for all of them. Shada walked off into the jungle thinking, _Back in the goddamn jungle again. Whoopdeedoo._

"Hey, Sky, why do you let Shada boss you around like that when you're older?" Sidney asked.

"Well, mostly because if I don't, she'd go and do what she wants anyway." _Not to mention she'll just go and kick my ass all the way to Tatooine and back again._ He thought.

"But you're older and should be able to exert some authority over her."

Sky laughed. "Over Shada? The only one that has authority over her is herself. You can give her orders, but you have no guarantee that she'll take them."

"Sounds a lot like Veronica." Scott said.

"Yeah, she admires Shada, though." Sky looked over at Veronica setting up her own tent. "That's not necessarily a good thing. She might get herself killed trying to be just like Shada." He looked back at Scott. "And Shada doesn't even realize Veronica looks up to her. But that's Shada for you."

"What'd I do?" Shada asked from behind Sky, making him jump.

"Nothing." Sky replied turning to face her. _Yet._ "Anything gonna eat us while we sleep?"

She glared at him for a moment. "No." She was now wary of Sky, but let it drop and went to help Veronica finish.

"Boy, you like taking risks, don't cha?" Scott said.

"You knew she was coming and didn't tell me why?" Sky asked. "Besides, it's not that big of a risk. She's still my little sister."

"Yeah, one who can kick your sorry ass to Tatooine and back without even the slightest trace of exertion." Scott told him, ignoring Sky's original question.

He was about to reply when Sidney tackled him. He was so taken by surprise he was lucky to keep standing. _When the hell'd she leave?_ Sky thought. "I lit the fire, Sky." She said.

"Yeah, thanks Sid." He glanced over at Veronica and Shada who were heading toward the fire Sidney had just lit. And surprisingly enough, Veronica was talking _with_ Shada, instead of letting the older girl talk and just listening to her. Of course, Shada didn't talk that much to _anyone_; she preferred to listen and brood on her mother lately. _Well, since Mom attacked her anyway._ "Shouldn't we help Shada and Veronica?" He asked as he led Scott and Sidney over to the fire to help with dinner before Sidney could say anything.

The dinner was easily made and just as quickly eaten. Shada hadn't eaten much or even talked much (not that she talked a lot, she just hadn't said one word to anyone since Scott, Sky, and Sidney had joined Shada and Veronica at the fire). _I wonder why. Shada doesn't usually talk, but she eats a hell of a lot back on Emberlene._ Sidney thought. She resisted the dull temptation to ask Sky about it when Shada abruptly got up and left.

She walked off into the jungle that she hated so much, heading as far away from the others as possible. She felt the burning desire to be alone and knew that if she went into her tent, Sky would ask her about it before they slept. She hadn't eaten much, but then again, she wasn't hungry _for once_. _Does it have anything to do with what's happened to me?_ She thought. She found a tree far enough away, but not too far that it would take her too long to get back and climbed up to a branch that she could sit on with her back to the trunk and sat.

It had started after she'd killed the first t-rex. She'd been able to sense what the others were feeling. All of them. And it hadn't been just after she killed the t-rex, that had been when it started, it happened all of the time; if one of them felt a strong emotion, she could feel it too. It was annoying; she couldn't even really identify most of them. There was anger, fear, love (from Sky and Sidney almost constantly), admiration (from Veronica), and one that she could just barely identify, jealousy. _Holy Sith!_ _That's coming from Scott! He's jealous of Sky! What an interesting reaction that would get if brought up in a regular conversation._ And of course when Sky was being pushed around by Shada, she could feel the most identifiable emotion ever, well second really, the first was anger, hatred. It had been burning red hot off of Sidney, mostly because the woman didn't like Shada anymore than she liked Sidney. But Shada wasn't interested in identifying her friends' emotions, she wanted them to go away. If she hadn't had to have used her mother's lightsaber, would she still be feeling their emotions? Probably not. If she hadn't used it, she wouldn't have fought the t-rex. But now she couldn't shut their Goddamned emotions up! _If only you idiots would stop feeling!_ She thought her own anger was joining the mix of emotions now. _How the hell can you feel so much?_

A bird cried out somewhere in the jungle, startling Shada out of her musings. She was dully surprised to find that she had a branch in her hands. She had snapped the branch above her off and then snapped it in two. The emotions of her friends were going to drive her insane. She sighed and jumped out of the tree, landing cat-footed on the ground and dropping the branch pieces.

As she got back to the camp, she heard Sky saying "I'm gonna go find Shada."

Hatred from Sidney. "Why? She can take care of herself."

A sigh, no doubt Sky's. "How many times to do I have to tell you? She's my little sister. It's like a job. I have to keep an eye on her." _And she really is a job._ Sky thought. "I shouldn't have let her go at dinner anyway."

"So I'm a job now?" Shada asked stepping up behind her older brother.

"That's not what I meant, Sha." He replied, turning to face her with an apologetic look on his face. Shada ignored him and went into their tent.

"See, she's fine." Sidney said, pulling Sky toward her own tent.

"I should really talk to her."

"It's obvious that she doesn't want to talk."

Sky sighed. "Fine." He let Sidney pull him into her tent and Veronica and Scott went into the last, Scott looked longingly at Shada's tent before following Veronica inside. He was glad that the tents were made to hold three people. He wouldn't have to get too close to Veronica. _I'd get close to Shada though. _He thought.

Shada sat bolt upright, disgust racing through every part of her body. _Was that Scott's thought! Gross! I'd have to be dead to do that._ She thought. Wonderful, now she was getting feelings and thoughts. She growled at the empty tent and dropped back onto the pillow and went into a light sleep. It was often what she called a Mistryl induced sleep.

Shada was the first one up in the morning when Scott joined her. "Hey Shada." He said. She only acknowledged him with a brief glance at him before going back to her blaster. _What'd it do, break?_ Scott thought. He watched her as he ate and soon they were joined by Veronica. "Mornin' Veronica." He said around a mouthful of food.

"Hey Shada, aren't you gonna eat?" Veronica asked, sitting next to her.

"I had a ration bar when I got up." She replied, still not glancing up and putting the blaster away. She took the datacard and the datapad out of her bag and scrolled through the data after turning the datapad on. _She clearly still doesn't feel like talking._ Scott thought.

"Hey Shada, I'm sorry if I upset you last night." Sky said from behind them. Both Veronica and Scott jumped, but Shada didn't even flinch. She did however get up and walk away. "Shada!" Sky called after her. She ignored him. "_Shassa._" _What the hell is she so mad about?_ Sky thought.

Ten minutes later, Shada came back and packed up her stuff unnoticed. Sidney had eaten and was silently fuming at Sky because he had insisted in waiting for Shada. Now Scott and Sky were arguing about whether to wait or go to the _Sun Crusher_ and the _Jade's Fire_.

"I don't give a damn what you think! If we don't wait, she'll be . . . upset." Sky told Scott.

"She's probably already at the ship!" Scott shouted at him.

"Shada doesn't just leave teammates behind because she's mad at one of them!"

"Yeah? How do you know? She's sixteen! She could do anything! You're just afraid that she'll kick the shit out of you if she gets you alone."

Sky was about to lunge at Scott when a soft voice said "_In ainente._" From behind Sky. He whirled to find Shada standing behind him.

"Shada . . ." He was utterly surprised to see his younger sister telling him to stand down. He never in a million years thought she would tell him _that_. "Are you ready to go to the ship?" She nodded, glaring at Scott and Sky briefly before moving ahead of them.

"Well, come on, we aren't gonna make it to the _Crusher_ by dark just standing around here."

"Well we were waiting for you." Scott said. He was still angry at Sky and right now all Shada could feel was his anger. "Because Sky here has to be the good big brother and wait."

Shada felt like ripping Scott's throat out. "That's because big brother Sky is terrified of me." She turned to the jungle, smirking at Sky on the way, and headed for the _Crusher_. "Come on, stop fighting." Shada said. Veronica followed Shada and Sidney grabbed onto Sky's arm and pulled him after Shada. Scott followed scowling at the back of Sky's head.


	5. Chapter 5

They'd been in the jungle for five hours now. Shada was in an even worse mood than before. Her friends' emotions were constantly racing through her and occasionally she'd get some thoughts too. She felt kind of sick. She'd have to do something about their emotions. Some part of her she barely noticed, whispered to her that she should kill them. _No, I can't that's against the rules. And I'm not that bad._ But that didn't shut it up. _Sure you are. You could always claim that one of the t-rexes killed them. You're good at lying Sha._ It was silent, letting her absorb the comment. _Even better at killing._ It finally finished. She didn't have a comeback to that. _Because it's true._ Shada thought. It was that thought that shut up her mind, but Shada decided that she _would not_ kill her brother and friends . . . _yet._

They reached the _Sun Crusher_ and _Jade's Fire_ just as dark fell. Shada went aboard the _Crusher_ and was prepping it for liftoff. Scott and Veronica were prepping the _Fire_. Sidney was trying to convince Sky to go with her and Shada was hoping that he would go.

"Sid, I should really go with Shada."

"She can fly by herself. Besides you don't even know how to fly the _Crusher_."

"Go on Sky, she's right. I can fly her by myself." Shada said at the top of the ramp. "But make up your mind now, I'm ready to go."

"So are we." Scott said from the top of the boarding ramp of the _Jade's Fire_.

"Fine, I'll go with Sid." Sky conceded. That part of Shada that wanted to kill them was now singing in triumph. "Though I don't know why you're so mad at me, Sha."

"I'm not mad at you." Shada told him. _At least not for the reason you think._ Shada thought. Sidney and Sky went aboard the _Jade's Fire_ and Shada went back inside. _Finally alone._ She thought.

Aboard the _Sun Crusher_, Shada was thrilled to be alone with _her_ emotions. The only bad thing about being alone was that she was back to the idea of killing the others. _Come on, Sha. It'll be real easy. They're all in another ship. Just get a target lock on them, pull the trigger, come up with a story, and everyone's happy, Right?_ The part of her that was still singing in triumph said. And unfortunately, Shada didn't have a retort. Everything was entirely true. _It would be easy._ She thought.

"You guys all strapped in?" Scott called.

"Yeah." Sidney called back. Scott took off. And quickly joined Shada in the _Sun Crusher_ in space.

"Shada we're ready to go." Scott told her over the comm. He got no answer, but decided that Shada was still mad at him for fighting with Sky so she wasn't going to let him know when to make the jump.

"You want me to see if I can get an answer?" Veronica asked. She unlike Sky and Sidney, was in the cockpit with him.

"No." He replied, shaking his head. "Ten to one she's still mad." Scott then programed in the coordinates for Emberlene and settled down to wait for Shada to jump.

As she was joined in space by the _Jade's Fire_ Shada thumb was hovering over the trigger. _Go on._ That same part encouraged. _After all, it would make all those damned emotions go away._ That was the mental trigger. All the emotions that she had never ever felt before her fight with the t-rex would be gone. _And I have the holocron and the datacard. _Shada thought.

"Hey, Scott?" Veronica asked.

"Hey what?" He replied, glancing at her. She was watching the _Sun Crusher_ thoughtfully.

"Why hasn't Shada jumped yet?"

"Don't know."

They were silent a moment then Veronica gave a startled "Scott!"

"What?!" He looked towards where she was pointing. Veronica was pointing out the viewport at the _Sun Crusher_. What he saw made his mouth fall open with shock. _How could she? He brother is on board. She wouldn't just kill us . . . would she?_ That was the only thought Scott had time to make before Shada's turbolasers blew the _Jade's Fire _to pieces.

Shada locked onto the _Jade's Fire _and pulled the trigger.

Veronica's last thought as she watched Shada fire on them was _Why is she firing on us? We're her friends!_ Sky and Sidney in the back of the ship felt the turbo lasers hit the _Jade's Fire_ before it blew.

What's up? Sky called. Whether he ever had time to get a reply or whether Scott and Veronica were even alive to answer is only something that Shada, in the _Sun Crusher_, knew. Not because she was able to see them go, but because she could feel their lives flicker out of existence, one by one.

The _Jade's Fire_ blew up in a brilliant fireball. It lit up the black of space brighter than anything the stars could ever do.

A cold, cruel smile slid onto Shada's face. _Finally alone. Forever._ She thought. But the other part of her objected. _Not forever. There's still everyone back home. When you get there, they'll have feelings, even Dad. And some might not believe your story either._ Shada snorted to herself. "Well, I'll just have to fix that then, won't I?" She said.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Remember, not all the characters are mine, they belong to the original writers. 

Shada was now cruising through hyperspace enjoying the quiet of her emotions, or lack thereof, and creating her story about the others' deaths and a plan to take care of everyone at home. The story was easy. She'd go to an asteroid belt, get some "battle" damage, and say that they'd been attacked by pirates after liftoff. It was killing the rest of the Emberlene that would be a bit of a problem. _I can't just blow them up._ Of course, that other part had something to say. _Well, you could. But it might be more trouble than it's worth. And besides there's not as much satisfaction in that. _"Did you just agree with me?" Shada gasped, unaware that she had spoken aloud. _Well, why don't we make a plan together._ She thought. _Deal._ The other part agreed.

When she reached Emberlene and landed, she was greeted by her father. "Shada!" Her father embraced her in a huge hug. He released her and looked around. "Where's Sky?"

She sighed and put a sad look on her face. "When we got the Hammertong data and took off, Sky went with Sidney, Scott, and Veronica on the _Jade's Fire_. He didn't want to go, but I told him it would be okay, I can fly by myself. We took off and were ambushed by pirates. They shot down the _Jade's Fire_." She gave her father a sad smile."I have to admit though, I have never seen a more brilliant explosion." She let the smile evaporate to the sad look again. "They took us completely by surprise. If the _Crusher_ wasn't indestructible, I would be dead too." She shrugged. "On the plus side, I did get the data and I still have it."

"Well at least your daughter can do something right, Alex." Shada turned and saw Spike, as he like to be called, behind her. _Oh, joy. _She thought. _Just what I need._

Spike was one hell of a character. His real name was Zack, but everyone called him Spike because of how he always kept his bleached blond hair spiked. For the past three years, Spike had been hitting on her and it was annoying. It was even more so since she could feel people's emotions. What she was getting off of him now made her feel disgusted and sick.

"Actually, she can do a lot of things right." Spike continued, measuring her with his gaze.

Shada gagged. "Only in your dreams, Spiky." She pushed down his hair, making it flatter.

"Hey, watch the hair!" He cried, trying to make it spiked again. "You wrecked my dew, D'ukal."

"No, just made all those spikes go back into your brain, where they, belong. That way they can puncture what's left of it." She walked off toward the palace, tossing her father the holocron.

"Shada, I don't know how to open it." He told her.

"Well if my guess is correct, you can't, only I can." She didn't elaborate, but went inside the palace.

An hour later, Shada was well beyond frustrated. She'd been rooting through all of her mother's stuff, but still couldn't find anything on what the hell was happening to her. There was absolutely nothing on what was making her feel other's emotions and know what others were going to do. She continued looking though, she had mostly given up any hope of finding anything. A little while later, there was a knock at the door. "What?" She called, not bothering to hide her mother's stuff. She knew who was at the door. Sure enough, when the door opened, it was her father on the other side.

"The Eleven want the . . ." He stopped unsure of what the holocron was.

"Holocron." She told him.

". . . holocron opened." He finished.

"Fine. I'll head down there now." She got up, leaving all the junk where it was.

Her father eyed the stuff for a moment. "Shada, are you all right?"

"Yeah, fine."

"You sure, 'cause you don't usually go through your mother's things. Especially since The Incident."

She reeled on him. "First of all, Dad, she attacked me. It wasn't an incident, and I'm fine. She said and left, heading for the council room where the Eleven would be.

It was now midnight and Shada still hadn't found anything in her mother's stuff. She was frustrated with the Eleven as well as annoyed that her mother didn't have anything to help her. The Eleven had insisted on seeing the Hammertong so she'd had to keep the holocron open and answer their endless question. Then they began asking questions about Sky and the others. While she didn't feel guilty about killing them, Shada didn't really feel like talking about it. This was mostly because talking about it meant being with people which meant she'd have to try and ignore their emotions while talking with them. She put her mother's junk away and stood in the middle of the room, seething. She should sleep, but she also wanted to figure out why in hell she could feel other people's emotions.

"It's because of who you are and what you've inherited." A voice from behind her said.

Shada whirled. How the hell had someone come in?! The door never opened! "You're supposed to be dead, woman!" She growled as she made a full circle around.

"Oh, I should be, you did one hell of a job on me, but" The woman gave Shada a cruel smile. "You didn't make sure to finish the job, honey."

Shada growled. "If Dad hadn't gotten in the way . . ."

"I'd be dead. Lucky for me your good-hearted father can't let his wife go at his daughter's hand." She gave Shada that smile again. "He wants her to remain _pure_."

Shada snorted. "He's a little late. Besides, he's working now." Shada gave her mother the same cold cruel smile she had gotten a few seconds earlier. This made her look exactly like her mother had when she smiled and if anyone had been in the room, they wouldn't have been able to tell them apart unless they looked at their eyes. "So . . . if you want to fight, I'm game."


	7. Chapter 7

Kristi Drake D'ukal was an older version of her the sixteen year-old Shada D'ukal. Her eyes were a cold, icy green whereas her daughter's eyes were a mirror-image of that cold, iciness only hers were blue instead of green.

The two women had fought before so knew the moves the other would make, knew how each other fought, and thought, and knew what to expect from the other. Yet neither made a move to attack the other. The younger glared at the older and the older glared back.

"I didn't come here to fight you, Shada." The older woman said. "I came here to give you answers."

"There's a surprise." The younger woman replied dryly. "Last time you didn't want to talk."

Her mother ignored her. "I can give you the answers you couldn't find in my stuff or you could continue to look. I'm sure you'd find what you want . . . eventually."

"I guess I should be glad that you want to lend a hand for once instead of trying to kill me." Shada shot back at her.

"Well, If I were you, I would be."

"Funny. We might look a like, but we're two completely different people."

"You might not want to accept it, but you're a lot like me, Shada."

"No, I'm not. I don't try to kill my family."

"Oh, you didn't try all right. You did a fine job shooting your brother down."

Shada gasped. "How in hell did you find out about that?" She demanded.

"Oh come on, Shada. I'm your mother and you're so much like me . . . including what you've inherited from me."

Shada was wary now. "What are you talking about?"

Kristi shrugged. "Predicting others moves before they make them, feeling others emotions, the knowledge of who's at the door before they knock. You got that from me Shada. Along with my looks. Alex always said you were my daughter, he didn't know how right he was." She watched Shada thoughtfully now. "You do things the way I did when I was your age, too Shada."

"What do you mean?" Shada was beyond confused now, but she was also curious. "Are you trying to say that I'm some kind of reincarnation of you?"

"I wonder." Her mother said, seeming to not have heard Shada. "You see, Shada, I killed my brother when I was your age. It was for the same reason you killed Sky. I also killed my father and my mother. But I learned how to control my . . . gift. My father was surprised. He thought I was just his little girl, despite how I looked like my mother with his eyes. My brother and I never got along and were always getting into fights.

"You're not planning to tell me your whole life story, are you?" Shada demanded.

Her mother ignored her again. "Well one time a fight went too far. I killed him with my bare hands. I later told my parents that we were attacked and I just barely got away. They believed me and I decided to find out why I could feel others emotions. I told them I was going to go to the Imperial Academy and left. I looked for a long time before I found a . . . teacher who taught me how to control my . . . gift and how to use it for _good_."

"But you didn't think that it was the kind of _good_ you wanted to use it for." Shada said, her voice just above a whisper.

"Exactly. So I went back home and when my parents asked about the Imp. Academy, I told them I didn't get in and tried to find another academy to get into."

Shada snorted. "And they believed that?"

"They did. Well, my mother anyway. My father and I weren't as close as you and Alex are. He managed to convince my mother that I was lying and they confronted me. Of course my father still thought I was a good girl until I killed him. He told me that he didn't like my lying and that if I didn't tell the truth, he'd make me sorry. Well, being four years older than when I had killed my brother, I wasn't afraid of him and I had been around the galaxy. I saw the kind of things that you see almost every day. I also met your father during my travels. When I met him, I told him I'd come back, but there was something I had to take care of first."

"Yeah, like murder your parents." Shada muttered.

"Actually it was to find my . . . teacher. I decided I didn't need my parents that day, though. I killed my father first, then my mother. I enjoyed the feeling of victory over them. I was free to do whatever I wanted. So I went back to Alex."

"That's all fine and dandy, but what the hell does it have to do with me?"

"Well Shada, you've taken the first step by killing Sky. Although you did kill more people than me on my first kill."

"Gee Sorry." Shada rolled her eyes. "I had all of their goddamned emotions pounding in my head, driving me insane. There was no way I was gonna ride all the way home and . . . listen to their emotions the whole time. As it is, just being here in my own room is driving me nuts. I can feel everyone's emotions."

"Except mine." Her mother said.

"Well, yeah, except yours." Shada agreed. "Why is that anyway?"

"Because I don't feel any anymore." She smiled at Shada. "Just like you."

"Great, so how exactly do I control this damned . . . gift? As you called it."

"By letting me teach you."

"What are you, mental?" She snarled. "You tried to fucking kill me and now you want to teach me! What the hell makes you think I'd want to be taught by the woman that tried to kill me? That's like asking to be shoved out an airlock!"

"Well, you could learn what I have to teach you and we could call it truce or you can root through my stuff if you live through the fight we're gonna have if you say no. Of course, if you say no and live, then you'll still have to deal with everyone else's emotions until you learn how to control your gift." Her mother said.

Shada sighed, glaring at her mother. Her mind was going a hundred miles an hour. _If Dad finds her here, I'll get grilled and she'll probably tell him what I did. On the other hand if I go with her before Dad shows up he'll hunt me down. _"Fine, we call truce under one condition." _This could be a huge mistake._

"I'm listening."

"We tell Dad where I'm going. And by we, I mean _both_ of us." Shada said.

"Fine, although it might hurt him to see me again."

"You worried about hurting him?"

"No."

"Good."

A/N: Review!!!!


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey, Dad?" Shada called a few minutes later. She and her mother had left Shada's room and headed to her father in his office. Like usual, it was cluttered with junk. It wasn't just his desk; it was the _whole_ office. Her father was sitting at his desk with his face behind the computer and so much junk was piled on the desk that Shada could barely see his head. He didn't look at her.

"What, do you want Shada?" He asked, sounding annoyed.

Shada opened her mouth to speak, but her mother put her hand on Shada's shoulder. Shada looked up at her mother and Kristi shook her head. "Hi Alex." She said.

Now he did look up. He had to get up to see over his desk. "Kristi!" He was so surprised he fell back into the chair. He got up again and stared at the pair. Shada and Kristi were standing side by side in the exact same position. Their arms were crossed and they were standing straight so they were both at their full heights. Alex noticed they were the same height. At his quick glance he couldn't tell them apart, but now that he was standing up again, he could see the woman on the right, his left, had piercing, cold, icy green eyes and the woman on the left had the same piercing, cold, iciness only her eyes were blue, the color of his eyes.

"That's right Alex." Kristi said. "I'm not dead, though if you hadn't showed up, I'd be very dead. Shada's been trained well."

She was doing it again. That thing where she seemed to read his mind and tell what he was feeling. "What are you doing here, Kristi?" Alex asked.

She sighed and threw a glance at Shada. "I'm taking Shada with me." She said.

"What do you mean? Why? Where?" Alex demanded.

"In all the years we've been married, you must have noticed that I've been able to . . ." Kristi paused searching for the right words. ". . . read your mind."

"Yes, I had noticed." His eyes flickered to Shada. She hadn't moved and her face was a mask, betraying nothing, not even that hate she had for her mother. "I presume Shada has this . . . power as well."

"Yes, I'm going to teach her how to control it." Kristi smiled at him, but it wasn't the cold smile Shada had gotten. "Don't worry, though, we're not leaving the planet, we're staying in the mountains and we've called a temporary truce."

"But when did she get this power?" Alex asked.

"At the same time I did. Not the same way, mind you, but the same time." Kristi now shifted her gaze back to Shada. "Remember when we met, and I told you I had something to take care of first."

"Yes, you said you'd come back as soon as possible." He answered.

"Well, I'd just . . . received my abilities. Well, it was more like unlocking them. I was looking for someone to teach me how to control it. I found a teacher and came back after spending a year with him, luckily for me I learned quickly or you'd have been waiting a lot longer."

"But you came back." He said. Alex still didn't see what Shada's part was in all this.

Shada's eyes locked with Kristi's, Alex couldn't read the look, and Kristi seemed to ignore her. "Shada unlocked her abilities and I plan to take her to the mountains and teach her to control her gift the way I was taught." She raised a hand as Alex went to speak. "I'm not asking permission. Shada's already agreed to go. She just thought that you would benefit by knowing where she's going although it would be better if you did leave her alone when we leave."

He sighed. "Fine, how long will you be gone?"

"Not that long, maybe a couple of months, maybe a couple of weeks. It depends on how fast she learns."

"Shada learns pretty quickly." Alex turned to Shada. "Are you sure you want to do this, sweetheart?"

Shada nodded. "Yeah, I do." She gave her mother a sneer. "And I won't let her kill me in my sleep and I certainly won't forget what you've taught me. I'm not _that _bad." _Say, what are we gonna do with our plan?_ That other part of Shada asked. _We're gonna keep it with a bit of . . . alteration. _Shada replied.

"See Alex, it's all settled." Kristi said. "We're going now, Shada." She turned to leave.

"Shada, be careful. I've already lost one child, I don't need to lose another." Alex said, watching the two women leave.

Shada turned around and gave him the same smile her mother had given him. "Don't worry, Dad, I'm sixteen. I can take care of myself." She followed her mother out the door.

"I'm gonna be sick." Shada snarled as they walked back to her room.

"Why?" Kristi asked, gazing at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Because of the way Dad feels about you is just disgusting." Shada's face had shifted form neutrality to disgust.

"That'll go away when you learn how to control your gift." Kristi replied shifting her gaze back in front of her. Shada didn't reply only opened her door. She stepped in and let the door slide shut behind her and in front of her mother. "Thanks Shada." Her mother said as she opened the door and stepped in.

"No problem."

"Get some stuff together all right?"

"Yeah." Shada grabbed her black backpack and took the datacard, the datapad, the Charric Cylinder, and the holocron off her dresser and put them in her bag. She put clothes on top of these as if she were hiding them. She took her mother's lightsaber off her night stand and put it on her belt.

"I see you've adopted my lightsaber." Kristi said from behind her.

"Yeah." Shada sneered at her again. "If you want it back, you're not gonna get it."

"I have a different one aboard my ship."

"Good." Shada went back to her stuff.

Kristi went into one of the drawers of a desk in the corner. The desk had a bunch of stuff thrown on top of it, mostly clothes though. She took out a little black book. "You might want to take this." She said, handing Shada the book.

"Why?" Shada said taking it.

"You've never been in that desk, have you?"

"Nope, Dad put it in my room after you . . . left and I never go in it."

"But you throw everything on top of it."

"Yup." Shada opened the book. "What is this anyway?"

"It's basically a diary. It has everything I learned with my teacher in it." _Almost everything. Of course I won't teach Shada exactly what I was taught, I'll throw my own spin into it and make her follow my path. She's already halfway there. _Kristi thought. A whistle came from the open closet, which Kristi noted had clothes on the edges and what looked like a little room in it.

"Relax, Crusher. I won't leave you here. When have I ever left you here without me?" Shada told the closet. The closet gave a soft whistle. "That's right, never."

"Shada, if you're talking to the closet, you've got a big problem." Kristi said.

"The closet? Oh! No, Crusher come here." Out of the closet at Shada's call came a black and white astromech droid. "Crusher's an R2-D4 astromech droid. He comes with me whenever I go off planet or out of the palace."

"And you can understand what he says?"

"Yeah. I've had him since I was born. He's like a pet. Of course even _you_ knew that. Right, _Mom_."

"Funny, Shada. I left because I didn't want to take the chance that my daughter would be just like me and kill her parents."

"You blew that one." Shada gave her a dark glare. "While I don't plan on killing my father, I'm a hell of a lot like you. You've even said so."

"Funny how you didn't mention not killing me."

"I did that on purpose."

"No shit." Crusher whistled at them again. "What'd it say?"

"He wants to know where we're going." Shada turned to the droid. "The mountains." He whistled. "He wants to know how we're getting there. Which is a very good question."

"My ship." Kristi rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you can actually understand that thing. And you talk like it's human."

"Well, he's not a thing. He's a friend so I treat him like a friend." She sneered again. "I'm sure you don't know how to do that though."

Kristi ignored her. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." They headed off toward Kristi's ship, with Crusher trailing behind Shada. No one said anything, not even the droid.

They reached Kristi's ship and went inside. It was smaller than the _Sun Crusher_ and it was neater on the inside. "How fast does this hunk of junk go?" Shada asked.

"Fast enough." Her mother replied. "And it has a name."

Shada growled. "Yeah, there's a surprise."

"It's called _Virago_." Kristi said, ignoring her daughter.

"Yet, you still speak of it like it's a thing."

"I don't see you acting any different."

"It's not my ship. If you were talking about the _Sun Crusher, _then it would be different."

"Shut up and strap in."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Bite your tongue."

"Make me."

"I could. I am still your mother, Shada."

"So act like it." Shada strapped into the copilot's chair and Crusher jacked into the control console between the women. Kristi sighed and strapped in and at the pilot's command board, prepared the ship for take off. _This is gonna be a long, long couple of weeks._ She thought. The rest of the trip, Crusher listened to Shada and Kristi bicker.

A/N: Review!!!!


	9. Chapter 9

AN: I don't own any characters, places, and names, and technology. I wish I did though . . . 

"Damn, if that's the mountain you were planing on going to, it's a good thing we're taking the ship." Shada said as the _Virago_ approached the tallest mountain on Emberlene.

"You saying you couldn't climb it?" Kristi asked.

"No, just that I wouldn't want to lug Crusher up." She looked up at the mountain. "Of course, I wouldn't want to climb it either."

"Good, then I'm not disappointing you."

"Not that you're worried about it." Kristi didn't answer just landed the _Virago_ and got out. Shada and Crusher followed. "You been living here the past sixteen years?" Shada asked.

"More or less." Kristi replied.

"Wonderful answer."

"Deal with it."

They reached a small valley at the top of the mountain. It had a pond and next to the pond a house. Well to Shada, it was a shack instead of a house. "What a dump." Shada said.

"The same could be said for your room." Kristi shot back. "Not all of us have lived in a palace all our lives."

"It's not my fault you left, it's your fault for having me."

"Shut up." Kristi opened the door to the house. There was a faint glow inside. "I guess Xander's home." Kristi said, heading toward the lit room.

Shada ignored her. "This place looks more like a dump inside than out." She said, looking around. The whole place looked like it would fall apart with a strong gust of wind. The couch, in what was supposed to be the living room, was old and looked like it was falling apart. The television was small with a scratched screen and the remote was missing a few buttons. The clock hanging above the television was stopped and the fireplace was missing bricks in several places with the doors looking like they were just barely hanging on._ Who could stand to live in a place like this?_ Shada thought.

As she followed her mother into the kitchen, she could see that the sink was filled with water and a man was underneath it. The pipes were covered with tape and were also leaking. The table in the corner was small and resting on newspapers to keep it balanced. The oven didn't look like it worked at all. The light, hanging from the ceiling, had room for three bulbs, but there was only one that worked. The doors of the cabinets were closed, sitting on the edges of the cabinets and probably only hung by one hinge anyway.

"Hey Xander, I'm home." Kristi said to the man beneath the sink.

The man sat up. He had a black shock of hair on his head that reminded Shada of Spike. He looked Kristi over, then his eye fell on Shada. He did a double take and his eyes widened so that even in the dim light Shada could see that they were a violent purple. "You found a way to duplicate yourself, I see." He said to Kristi once he recovered.

Kristi laughed. "No, this is my daughter, Shada."

"Could've fooled me." Xander said. "How am I supposed to tell you two apart?"

"Shada's eyes are blue." Kristi replied easily. She took a bucket and scooped water from the sink into it then dumped it onto Xander's head.

"Hey!" Xander shouted, wiping his hair out of his eyes. He looked Shada up and down. "Damn, she's like a carbon copy of you." He looked back up at Kristi. "So what'd you bring her here for?"

"To teach her like I was taught." She smirked at him. "She's got the same talent I've got."

"Oh, great. Am I gonna be a test subject during these training sessions?"

"If you annoy me, yes. Now get back to work." He sighed and disappeared beneath the sink.

"_I can't believe I'm spending the next couple of weeks _here_ with _you." Shada growled in the Mistryl Battle Language.

"_Watch your mouth, Shada."_ Her mother replied in the same language.

Shada snorted. "_Now there's a surprise._"

"Come on I'll show you your room." Kristi said, ignoring Shada's last comment.

"_It gonna be any better than this?"_ Shada asked.

"Wait and see."

While walking through the house, Shada had been looking around and so far, she thought the entire place was a dump. Her room wasn't much better, but from what glimpses Shada had gotten of the other rooms, it wasn't any worse than the others.

"Put your stuff away, then we can get started." Her mother told her. Shada rolled her eyes and tossed her bag onto the bed. It gave a painful squeal and Shada raised her eyebrow at her mother.

"My bag's not _that_ heavy." She said.

"Come on." Kristi led her out of the house. "You're gonna have a blast." She gave Shada a wicked grin.

_What a long couple of weeks this is gonna be._ Shada thought.

Two weeks later, Kristi was getting ready to take Shada back to the palace. _Finally, I'll be rid of the brat._ The weeks had been spent with training, yes, but whenever they weren't training or sleeping she and Shada were bickering, often in the Mistryl Battle Language so her boyfriend, Xander, wouldn't understand what they were saying. Shada made it a point to speak in the Battle Language whenever she was around him, leaving Kristi to do translating. Despite the truce, Kristi had had times where she wanted to kill the girl. She didn't doubt that Shada had wanted to as well. "Come on Shada. Let's go."

"Gladly." The younger woman answered her.

"You'll be back soon, right?" Xander asked.

"Just me." Kristi told him. She followed her daughter inside and took off.

It was a quick ride back to the palace and Shada was glad to be rid of her mother. _Thank God I can get rid of that bitch._ She thought, going back to her room with Crusher in tow and her mother aboard her own ship flying back to her shit shack. She ran into her father. "Shada! Did you get what you needed from your mother?" He asked.

"Yeah, that and a hell of a lot more." She replied.

"Good, I'm glad you're back. Why don't we have dinner tonight and you can tell me about it?"

"Okay." She went into her room and dumped her stuff on the bed. She began putting things away. Crusher gave her a sad sounding whistle. "Download it into my computer, then save it on the disk, okay?" He whistled an affirmative and set to work. Her mother thought that she had kept Shada under a reasonable amount of control, but she had never noticed that while Crusher had been jacked into the control board, he had hacked into it and gotten all the _Virago_'s data. She had decided that she would use the data in her own ship. If there was stuff she liked, it would go into the _Sun Crusher_. Anything else would be saved for later. It was the way Shada did everything and she didn't see a reason why she should change anything. She finished cleaning her bed off and dropped onto it.

The two weeks with her mother had been hell. There was no other way to put that. Of course even though they had called truce, Shada had still been tempted to kill the woman. She had often wondered whether she'd actually be able to do it as well. She had just gotten away with her own life the first time they had fought, but now Shada had more strength and an advantage over her mother. She knew Kristi Drake D'ukal still cared about her husband. Shada had seen it when they had gone to her father's office. She had also felt it from her mother although she had said that she didn't feel, Shada had felt that her mother's feelings for her father hadn't changed even though she had left him. If they ever met again, Shada would use that knowledge against her mother and if it was necessary she could use the other guy, Xander, too.

_What about our plan, Shada?_ That other part that Shada could never keep completely silent all the time said. _You said you'd alter our plan, have you?_

_Yeah, and it's gonna make the people go out with a bang. _Shada replied.

_Really, so then what have you changed._

_Well, since I can control my gift instead of killing them to get rid of emotions, I can kill them for the hell of it._

_I don't care why, just how. _The other part demanded.

_Fine. Instead of blowing the place with bombs and killing them that way, I'm gonna . . ._

Two hours later, Shada was walking down to her father's office. She had taken a shower and changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a tank top, both were black. She met her father halfway there and he took her arm and escorted her down to the café.

"So, why don't you tell me what you learned from your mother." He said.

"Well, the first thing I learned was the best way to make a guy suffer." Shada replied.

Her father raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Are you planning to make me suffer?"

Shada smiled up at him. "Unless your name is Spike, than no. You didn't change your name while I was gone, did you?"

He chuckled. "Nope, it's still Dad to you and Alex to everyone else."

"Good, then you're safe." _For now_. She thought.

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	10. Chapter 10

The next hour Shada spent telling her father what her mother had taught her. Well, most of it. She had neglected to mention that Kristi had a new boyfriend or what the house had looked like. She didn't tell her father where Kristi was living, though she did toy with the idea of taking him there herself to see what the woman would say.

When they reached her room her father sent her off to bed, but Shada wasn't tired. She went to the closet and flicked on the light. The light made the little black astromech droid swivel around at her. He was still at the computer jacked in. "Have you downloaded everything?" Shada asked. Crusher gave her a negative whistle. _Almost done._ The whistle said. "Good." She replied. Shada sat down in front of the computer and opened up a folder labeled _JUNGLE_. She browsed down to the end of the document and began to type. She was still typing when Crusher unplugged and went to wherever droids went when they slept. An hour later, she went to sleep herself.

Kristi watched Shada go inside the palace before taking off. She knew that Shada had planned to kill everyone on Emberlene, well in the palace, when she had convinced the girl to go with her. She wondered whether Shada would decide to kill her as well. Kristi had been planning to take the girl as an apprentice, but even if she did agree to it, Shada was most likely to kill her when she got what she wanted. She smiled to herself. Of course, She also knew that Shada would try and use her feelings for Alex and Xander against her. That would be a problem, but not one that couldn't be dealt with. Shada would kill them, go after her, and then she would be just what Kristi wanted her to be. _And when that happens, I'll be the one to make sure that she follows the path her father never wanted her to be on._ Kristi thought.

In the morning, Shada was in a bad mood. Not that she ever had a good mood, but unlike usual, her mood was anything but ideal. _Today, I'll take care of all my problems._ She thought. But before Shada could take care of anything, she would have to endure another meeting with the goddamned Eleven. According to what she'd gotten out of her father last night, she was going to be sent on another mission. She could only hope that this time she would be allowed to go alone, even if she was now the youngest sent on missions. She had proven herself time and time again. _If they do send anyone, I'll kill them._

An hour later, Shada was in the council room. She was in front of the Eleven, well in the middle of them really. They were arranged in a circle around the room, which was also circular. The room was flooded with the early morning sunlight, making it seem like Shada was standing in a pyramid of light because of the pyramid-shaped ceiling.

Shada was facing the oldest of the group, an old woman who could no longer walk on her own. She had been on the council for all of Shada's life. Hell, she had been on the council for almost all of Sky's life too. According to her father, the woman had at one point had black hair, but now her hair was white. The woman's amber eyes were cold, but could never reach the level of coldness Shada's eyes were. Shada's father had also said that she had liked Shada's mother and although the woman pretended to favor her, Shada could feel that she really didn't like Shada. She thought that Shada was too rebellious and had too much personality.

Now, the woman, Shada couldn't remember her name but thought that it was something like Alexis Delgado. It sounded right anyway. Shada didn't really care what her name was. Delgado was watching Shada warily. The rest of the Eleven weren't as old as Delgado and all seemed only slightly annoyed by Shada's rebelliousness. The council was made only of older Mistryl, the youngest being a sixty-five-year-old woman named Justine

Sheldon. Unlike Delgado her hair wasn't white, but it was slowly getting there.

"So Shada, you will be going to the Dathomir System." Alexis Delgado told her. "There you will go to the city of Bestin."

"You will be going alone." A man who Shada thought was called Shane Striker said. "You are being sent there because you are our best agent. Do you understand?"

"Yup." Shada replied. Delgado glared at her, but Shada wouldn't have to worry about the woman's displeasure at her arrogance much longer. She wouldn't have to worry about any of them much longer. Her plan was about to take effect. And when it did, it was going to hit with a bang. A big bang. "So what am I being sent there for?" Shada asked. She was just as casual as she had been for every other mission she had been sent on, if not a little more so. Of course today, Shada was more arrogant, but that was because she was ready for what was going to happen and everyone else was going about their daily lives unaware of what was going to happen. Even the Eleven were totally unaware.

"We need you to obtain a . . ." Delgado looked over at Sheldon.

"An important program designed for the Hammertong specifically." Sheldon finished. She was glaring at Shada. _This girl is too uncontrollable to be doing this mission. She's too unpredictable._ She thought.

"Where's it gonna be?" Shada asked, pretending to be totally oblivious to Sheldon's glare.

"At the heart of the city." Striker said. They were getting annoyed now, but that was okay.

"In what?"

"We don't know. It's possible that it could be in another holocron." A man answered. Shada knew him a little better than she would have liked. He was her father's friend and he not only favored Shada, but showed it willingly and was the one most likely to give her all the details the rest of the Eleven wouldn't give her. His name was Christopher Norman and unlike the others, Shada didn't refer to him with his last name. He had always insisted that she call him Chris. He was a year older than Sheldon.

"So, how well guarded will it be?" Shada asked.

"You will be ready to leave in an hour." Delgado said, ignoring Shada's question. She was annoyed. _Good._ Shada thought. _Let her be._ "Dismissed." Delgado finished waving her hand. The council would break up now.

Shada left and as she was heading for the door, Chris motioned for her to wait for him at the exit. He would be the first one out.

Shada exited and stood by the door, out of the way, hidden by the shadows. A few minutes later, Chris exited and looked around for her. He saw her and took her to a deserted conference room. He closed and locked the door behind him. "Sit." He told her.

She sat. "What's up Chris?" She asked.

"I shouldn't say anything, but I will anyway. The rest of the Eleven are . . . concerned." He sat down next to her and took her hand. "They were . . . unwilling to send you alone, but figured that since you had gotten away from the pirates, you would be fine. I wonder if I hadn't vouched for you, would they have let you go?"

"But you're unsure if it was wise to let me go as well, aren't you?" She asked.

"Yes." He wasn't surprised that she knew this. "I want you to be careful Shada." He sighed and took something out of his pocket. "This is supposed to be off record, but the Eleven are giving you this." He handed her a small envelope. "Open it."

Shada opened it and saw that it was a group of maps. Detailed maps that weren't like the one she had gotten for the trip through the jungle. There was also a stack of credits on the larger side as well. "Why are you giving me money?" Shada asked.

"Because if you need to use it for anything, use it." Chris replied. "Shada one other thing. Some of the Eleven, not much, but some, don't believe that your brother and the others were killed by pirates."

"That's not my fault." Shada said, glancing at her chrono. "I should get ready."

"Yes, go." Chris told her. He didn't say what he believed, just let her go.

An hour later, Shada had all her things, including her mother's stuff, in the _Sun Crusher_. Crusher was plugged into the console inside the ship downloading everything into her computer. The room was completely empty. Shada had even put her mother's desk aboard the ship. Shada had emptied the room, not only to save everything she owned, but to fit her plans as well.

She went back inside the _Sun Crusher_ after making sure her room was empty. She came back with a small rectangular box. It was small, but it would make one hell of a mess when it went off. Shada put the bomb in the corner of her room where the desk had been. It would go off when she wanted it to and not a second before or after. Her powers would see to that.

Shada made sure it was ready, then left, heading for her father's office. She would let him know she was leaving before she blew her room up. She met her father about halfway to his office. "I'm leaving for the Dathomir System now." She told him.

"Be careful Shada." Her father said as he gave her a hug.

"I will."

"I love you sweetheart."

"You too Dad." As Shada watched her father walk away, she triggered the bomb. She knew that when it went off five seconds later, she would be well out of the way. Her father however, would not. If the blast didn't kill him, she would herself and he would never know she had done it.

A/N: Review!!!!


	11. Chapter 11

AN: This is the last chapter. Remember, I don't own any of the characters, places, technology, ect. Enjoy :)

The bomb counted down from five, the way it had been set. It hit zero and went off, tearing Shada D'ukal's room to shreds. There was no sign that the sixteen-year-old had ever once lived there. No sign that anyone had lived there. Alex D'ukal, in his office heard the bomb go off, but thought nothing off it. Then the blast hit his office. The office was covered in flames and Alex D'ukal was killed instantly with no knowledge of what his daughter had done.

Shane Striker was still in the council room along with Justine Sheldon. Both heard the bomb. Both rushed to see what had happened. Both were killed as the blast traveled toward Alex D'ukal's office.

Christopher Norman was in the same room he had spoken to Shada. He was worried about the girl and when the bomb went off it was Chris who knew exactly where it had gone off without moving. Shada's room. It was no doubt an assassination attempt on her. Chris could only hope that she hadn't been in the room when it blew. He was left unharmed.

Alexis Delgado was safely out of the bomb's way when it went off. She was in a classroom at the far end of the palace with a full class of students. She knew that it was a bomb and she, like Chris, knew it had gone off in Shada's room. She also knew that Shada had planted the bomb. Delgado had known Shada was just like her mother and had told Alex that the girl would go the path of the woman as well. Alex had argued that they were two different people, but Delgado knew better. Delgado just didn't know how right she was or how soon it would be. She dismissed the class instantly and told them to stay away from the other end of the palace.

Several other members of the Mistryl were killed when the bomb went off, but it was only the eastern wing of the palace that blew. Shada had wired the bomb to go off when she wanted it to, but it would not be the only one going off. The entire palace, even Alexis Delgado was unaware that she had laid four bombs, one in the eastern wing, one in the southern wing, one in the western wing, and one in the northern wing of the palace. They would go off separately when they would do the least damage. Shada wanted to kill them all in person and she always got what she wanted.

Shada didn't leave the palace before blowing the bomb. She was still inside when it went off. She was in the southern wing, waiting and watching as everyone ran toward the eastern wing, toward her room. When the southern wing was empty, she triggered the bomb and left, heading for the northern wing. Next she would blow that, then the western wing after Delgado left. And Shada would make sure Delgado was gone, she had plans for her.

Five seconds later, the bomb in the southern wing went off. This time it killed no one. Everyone was either in the northern or western wings or if they were security, were investigating the eastern wing explosion. Like before, Shada waited until the southern wing was vacant before triggering the bomb, then left for the western wing, where her plan would come to a head. When the wing was vacant, Shada blew the northern wing.

Alexis Delgado was moving out of the west wing, people had moved to the wing in hopes that it wouldn't go up in flames. Delgado knew that Shada would wait for the wing to be empty, including herself, but had no intentions of giving the girl what she wanted. She would make her wait until the palace itself could be evacuated. Shada was good, but she would have no way of knowing of the hidden escape roots that the remaining nine of the Eleven Elders were escorting everyone who wasn't security to.

Soon though, the news was passed that there was no way out. Delgado had to now admit that Shada was better than good. How had she gotten hold of the secret passages? Even Alex D'ukal didn't know about them. But Shada had blocked them off and now everyone was trapped within the palace. Shada would not blow the wing with everyone in it, would she? The Elders couldn't take that chance. Everyone would be moved to the other wings, out of reach of the flames blocking exit out those ways and hopefully out of the way of the blast.

Shada watched as Delgado moved slowly down the hall. It was empty now, except for Delgado. The remaining Elders had found the not-so-secret exits blocked along with the main ones. Delgado was now the last soul that hadn't made it to the other wings. They couldn't get out there, but they would be trapped by fire on all three sides and as soon as Delgado was there, four. She was taking her time though, and that was annoying. Delgado must know it was Shada who had set the bombs and planned to make her wait in hopes that security would find her. They could try. With what her mother had taught her, Shada could stay hidden for the rest of her life here.

Delgado finally reached the end of the hallway and Shada followed her to where everyone else was gathered. She then triggered the bomb and five seconds later it blew, trapping everyone in the middle of the palace.

Shada unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and held it ready but unlit. She spotted Christopher Norman on the outside. He would die first. She drew her blaster and fired the last shot in that power pack, then reholstered it. He died instantly with a shot to the heart. Not one person knew what killed him. There was too much noise to hear the blaster shot. Shada ignited the lightsaber, throwing the eerie red highlights around to combine with the flames and stepped out of the shadows, letting the power shielding her from sight, vanish.

Alexis Delgado saw her first. She stepped out from the shadows where she had been hidden right in front of Delgado. How had she hidden in plain sight? She had what looked like a laser sword in her hand. It was red and it threw red highlights into her hair and gave her eyes a red tint to them. Shada strode toward her and when her ice-blue eyes locked with Delgado's amber ones, Alexis Delgado felt fear for the first time in her very long life. _She means to kill every one of us!_ Shada gave Delgado a sneer and Delgado saw that she and her mother were alike in more than personality, acts, and looks. She was her mother reincarnated! _"You always said I was my mother's daughter. Now you know just how right you are."_ Shada said in the Mistryl Battle Language, her voice soft and just barely audible over the crackle of flames. _She's a demon!_ Delgado thought as Shada cut her in half.

The last thing Alexis Delgado saw was Shada D'ukal sneering at her and as Shada cut her down, no one seemed to notice. They were still worrying over Christopher Norman. Shada didn't stop with Delgado, but began to cut down everything that moved. Soon everyone was aware that Shada was murdering all of them and that it had been Shada blowing up the palace and it was Shada that shot down Chris. When Shada finished, there wasn't a moving soul in the entire palace save for herself. She headed down to the eastern wing, in the direction of her room where there was one exit that only Shada knew about, where the _Sun Crusher _was waiting for her.

Night had fallen over the planet Emberlene. A woman stood alone at the top of a hill, facing the Mistryl Palace. The flames from the palace made her already cold eyes even colder. She stood with her feet planted and her hands clasped behind her back, staring down at the roaring flames. Her face was a mask, showing nothing of what she might be feeling. She wore black clothes and had a silver cylinder hanging from her belt. Her black hair carried highlights from the fire along with her eyes and clothes. She never moved. The only movement she made was the gentle rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed in the smoke from the burning palace.

She still didn't move as another woman approached her. This woman was an exact copy of the first woman only older and her eyes were a different color. _"Feeling guilty?"_ The older woman asked the younger in the Mistryl Battle Language.

"_Not at all."_ The younger replied.

"_Good."_

"_You want anything in particular?" _Shada D'ukal asked. She still hadn't looked away from the palace.

"_You." _Kristi D'ukal replied. She too was watching the remnants of the destruction Shada had made die off. _"I want you to become my . . . apprentice. With you at my side, we could have everything."_

"_I have everything."_

"_You could have more. More anything. Bloodshed, destruction, death. You name it, you get it."_

"_Fine, but I'm fixing that dump you call home up."_ The flames were dead now. Emberlene was cloaked in complete darkness. The two women went aboard the _Sun Crusher_, which had been waiting patiently at the base of the hill. Once aboard, they took off, heading for the mountain where Kristi now lived and had spent two weeks training Shada. They would make the galaxy the way it was supposed to be and rule it with a cold cruel hand, side by side. The galaxy would be shrouded in darkness. Forever.

A/N: Review!!!!


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